Leonidas Kavakos / Péter Nagy MAURICE RAVEL Sonate Posthume - Tzigane GEORGE ENESCU Impressions d'enfance - Sonata No. 3

Leonidas Kavakos, the outstanding Greek violinist, makes his ECM debut on this disc, as does the comparably gifted Hungarian pianist Péter Nagy, in a programme that explores the musical-historical relationship between Ravel and Enescu.

Increasingly regarded as one of the most insightful musicians of his generation, Kavakos first attracted attention via his spectacular successes in international music competitions, taking first prizes in both the Sibelius and Paganini competitions. From the outset, however, it was clear that  he had more than virtuosity at his disposal, and the depth of his musicality was already evident.

Born in Athens into a musical family with strong traditions in folk music, Kavakos began studying violin with his father, continuing his studies at the Greek Conservatory with Stelios Kafantaris. An Onassis Foundation scholarship enabled him to attend master classes with Joseph Gingold at Indiana University, and he made his concert debut at the Athens Festival in 1984. Major debuts at the London BBC Proms and international festivals in Edinburgh, Salzburg, Ravinia and the Hollywood Bowl, were followed by invitations to play with orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony, City of Birmingham Symphony, Munich Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Gothenburg Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In May 2003, Kavakos made his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

An active chamber musician, Kavakos has been the Artistic Director of his own chamber music cycle in the Megaron, Athens since 1992. He regularly appears at chamber music festivals with partners including Natalie Gutman, Nobuko Imai, Kim Kashkashian and Mstislav Rostropovich. The Camerata Salzburg recently appointed Kavakos their Principal Guest Artist (a post they created especially for him) and he has toured extensively with this ensemble, on both sides of the Atlantic.

Several further recordings for ECM have already been made. Scheduled for release early in 2004 is an album of music by Armenian composer Tigran Mansurian in which Kavakos is the soloist in the Violin Concerto (also on this disc are Kim Kashkashian, Jan Garbarek, the Hilliard Ensemble, and the Munich Chamber Orchestra under Christoph Poppen). A Kavakos CD with music of Bach and Stravinsky is also in preparation.

A child prodigy, Péter Nagy was admitted at the age of 8 to the Special School for Young Talents of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, Budapest. His teachers were Ferenc Rados and Klára Máthé. In 1975 he became a regular student of the Liszt Academy, and in 1979 he won the first prize in the Hungarian Radio Piano Competition. He graduated with distinction from the class of Prof. Kornél Zempléni in 1981.

Nagy has appeared as  a soloist with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, the Helsinki Philharmonic, the Hungarian State Symphony Orchestra and the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. As a chamber musician he has performed at major festivals, including Aix-en-Provence, Athens, Davos, Edinburgh, Stockholm, Helsinki, and the Marlboro Music Festival.

The duo of Kavakos and Nagy has toured in the USA, Spain, Greece, Germany, Italy, Scandinavia and Hungary. In addition to the works on the present recording, they have also recorded Stravinsky’s Duo Concertante and Suite Italienne for future release on ECM New Series. Nagy has also accompanied violist Kim Kashkashian in recitals in Europe and North America.

In 2001, Péter Nagy received the prestigious Liszt Award. (ECM Records)